My friend Nick Palmer has spotlighted me over on his excellent blog (it’s kept much more regularly than this one). I sent over the story a while ago, so glancing over it again at a distance of time is an interesting thing. For example, I notice a paragraph that exists somewhere between two different drafts of the idea, and needs renovating. It’s not just mistakes, though. Once you put some time between yourself and your work it turns into something else, written by someone else (since we’re always changing, you will not be the same person who wrote it when re-reading it three months later). It lets the writing stand on its own terms, rather than be simply you on a page, and, since the text is under your control, you can shape it into something better, take ownership of it again. Eventually, though, you have to leave it be, and the story becomes its own thing, disassociated from you. It’s an interesting process.

Hope you enjoy it, anyway, and be sure to keep an eye on Nick’s blog, it’s a cracking read.

Hello and welcome to the latest instalment of Spotlight On. Today, I will be turning the spotlight on James D. Ward, a close and valued friend of mine, but also a fantastic writer. He writes in all sorts of genres and styles, from poetry to prose, from playwriting to other sets of things beginning with ‘p’. When he isn’t busy doing that he can be found treading the boards as an actor and puppeteer, or sitting with a slight frown as he tries to make the actors do what he wants (i.e. he directs). If he has any time in between doing all these things you can find him over on his website and on Twitter.